


The Eye of the Beholder

by saladbabie



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Body Swap, Crack, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Not Beta Read, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, i wrote this for my friend's birthday, rated Teen for some f bombs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saladbabie/pseuds/saladbabie
Summary: Peter and Harley wake up in each other's bodies. They have to go to school as each other before they're able to swap back. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 299





	The Eye of the Beholder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [parkner_keenker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkner_keenker/gifts).



> Happy birthday to my friend Maia, it's not your birthday yet where I live, but it is for you so happy birthday  
> Extra shoutout to the parkner discord for the inspiration for this fic after tossing around ideas they had in response to the server event vote

Peter noticed immediately that something was very wrong. For one, he was in the wrong room, but his habit of passing out anywhere and everywhere left that to not be too strange. What was strange, though, was how Peter stood at least a few inches taller when he climbed out of not his bed. He also couldn’t hear, or, more accurately, he could hear what was meant to be heard better than ever, but nothing more. He couldn’t hear the dog barking two blocks away, or sirens throughout the city, or the chatter of the others in the tower. On that note, he shouldn’t even be in the tower, but the sunrise over the New York skyline in his window argued that he is. 

Only when he saw the framed photo on the desk did he realize what room he woke up in. He noticed the freckles that painted his limbs and ran to gaze at his reflection in the bathroom. _Harley._

Okay, so he was Harley. Or, he was him, but now he was in Harley’s body. His phone (Harley’s phone, actually) buzzed on the bedside table: a text from “Peter-Man” with a baby emoji. (Peter didn’t have the time to be offended).

_took me so long to realize my contact name was Save A Horse… call me_

Peter unlocked the phone with ease, thanking the gods that he actually knew Harley’s passcode, not that he could really forget Harley telling him that his passcode spelled the word DICK. He ignored Harley’s inside background with calling him taking priority. _Why would he save a photo of Peter midsneeze?_

“Peter?” It was his own voice through the speaker. _Creepy_. “Do you think it was that creepy guy we fought last night?”

“I didn’t think he could actually do anything…” Peter trailed off, listening to Harley’s voice on his words, “How do we undo it?”

“How am I supposed to know? This is so fucked up.”

“Just,” Peter sighed into the phone, “Just get me to school and we’ll figure it out.” Peter quickly tossed the phone onto the bed and shucked on the first clothes he could find from each drawer, tripping over his (Harley’s) feet in the process.

“Harley! Let’s go,” Tony opened the door to the room, “Happy’s got the car-you okay?” 

“I, uh, so,” Peter struggled to find the correct words and watched Tony’s concern grow the longer he struggled over the sentence, “They switched our bodies. I’m, uh, I’m Peter. And he’s me.” Tony blanked at the confession before shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I need to get you to school either way, so you go to the car, and I’ll see if we can figure something out.” _We_ , of course, meant Tony, Bruce, Cho, Strange, anybody with any knowledge who could figure something out (because oddities seemed to happen around them all too often). 

-

Peter didn’t know why he hadn’t expected it. Really, Harley had bought him the clothes as a joke, (and Peter only kept them because he felt bad about getting rid of gifts), but in hindsight, that should’ve been the first thing Peter considered when he woke up in Harley’s body. Now, he had to watch all the other students gazing at Harley-Peter walking through Midtown with the nerve to show up in a yellow crop top and high waisted skinny jeans as opposed to his usual oversized everything. 

“Are you kidding me?” Peter dropped his voice low when Harley met him, “You have to act like me. What is this?”

“What? You look cute in this, and you wouldn’t even know it. Did you know you never even cut off the tags?” Peter felt a light blush graze his face, unable to meet the beet red that his own body allows.

Peter watched Harley lean against the lockers on his hand when Peter sighed.

“Don’t do anything stupid. You’re supposed to be me.” Harley laughed at Peter’s words and pulled his hand off the locker. At least, he tried, but he couldn’t seem to move any further than arm’s length. He tugged at his hand before turning to Peter who gathered book’s from his locker. 

“I think I’m stuck.”

“Harley, are you kidding me?”

“I don’t know how to stick! Get me off of here.” Harley grabbed his wrist and tugged on his arm, leaning back to use his weight against himself.

“Oh my god, just relax. Hey, stop, just relax.” Peter whispered frantically at the boy who was beginning to panic.

“I am relaxed,” Harley hissed. “Help me-” He was cut off by the bell when he immediately unstuck and fell backwards.

“Is that how you always hear the bell?” The two asked simultaneously as Harley dusted himself off. 

They made their way to the class that they were already late to, Peter occasionally stumbling over his significantly longer legs. By the time they burst into their English class, Peter was fully winded.

“Mister Keener, Mister Parker, so nice of you to join us.” The teacher called as they slumped into their seats (after having hesitated at the wrong seats for just a moment). Peter watched Flash turn in his seat to face Harley. He dreaded the interaction that he was about to witness.

“Hey, Penis, cute outfit. You buy it from the goodwill, or dig it out of the trash?” Peter watched Harley clap back without hesitation.

“Wow, Eugene, that’s so creative of you. It’s too bad I caught you staring at my ass this morning.” Flash gaped before turning back around in his seat seething. Peter quickly scribbled a note to pass to Harley.

_you are going to get me killed dumbass_

Harley drew a heart below the sentence and passed it back to Peter who scowled and pocketed the note.

-

“Holy shit,” Harley muffled through a mouthful of his third sandwich, “How much food do you need?”

“You need to quit acting like you and start acting like me.” Peter pointed a finger at Harley who had moved on to a banana.

“Hey, losers,” MJ dropped a tray onto the table at her arrival, “You switched bodies? That’s gotta suck.”

“What? No, no. How did you?” Peter gaped at MJ’s immediate knowledge.

“It’s kind of obvious. You never notice Flash staring at your ass.” MJ gestured towards Peter in Harley’s body, “And you’re sitting opposite than usual.”

Peter flushed at the realization and stood to make Harley switch spots with him. He nibbled on a cracker as he watched Harley get stuck to the banana peel and shake his hand to get it unstuck. Peter had to resort to holding Harley’s (Peter’s) wrist and counting breaths until the banana peel fell to the table gracelessly.

Peter needed to swap back as soon as possible.

-

“Please tell me you figured something out, he’s driving me crazy,” Peter called as he walked into the lab, Tony, Bruce, and Strange lounged around the tables. “Look at what he made me wear to school.” Peter gestured to his own body that wore a smirk, sauntering into the lab.

“There is something that we can do,” Strange began, “but we don’t have the materials.” 

Peter groaned and looked towards the ceiling.

“We’ve been in contact with Thor, and he said he could get them to us tomorrow,” Bruce noted at Peter’s clear frustration. “In the meantime, we’re keeping you both at the tower, and you’ll have to be each other at school.” Peter didn’t think he could handle watching Harley fail at acting like Peter for another minute.

“Let’s go. You have to be a better me.” Peter pulled Harley out of the room by the wrist.

“I’m a great Peter! I know how to be cute and nice.” Peter shot Harley a warning look and dragged him into the elevator. “I do hate being shorter than you, though.”

Peter led Harley through the tower until they were in the living room.

“Here,” he gestured towards the couch. “Sit down. Sit like me.” 

Peter watched Harley lounge onto the couch, legs spread and arms across the top. “Will you teach me how to swing?” Peter sighed and adjusted Harley’s (Peter’s) arms and legs until he was sitting more like Peter would, small and unassuming.

“You can’t even unstick on your own; you’re definitely not swinging.” Peter dropped onto the couch. “And you need to stop talking back to Flash, or he’s gonna beat one of us up.”

“Why don’t you ever talk back to him?” Harley leaned against Peter the way that Peter normally would. Peter draped an arm around Harley without thinking. “He always singles you out, and you could put him in his place so easily.” 

“You know I can’t make him mad. If I make him mad, he’ll want to hit me. If he hits me, I can never hit him back.” Peter closed his eyes and rested his head atop of Harley’s (or rather, Harley’s on top of his).

“You can hit him now.” Harley turned to gaze up at him. “You know I’d hit Flash without any reason to.” Peter laughed and pulled Harley closer to him on the couch yawning quietly. 

-

“Up, up. Dinnertime, I have pizza.” Tony dropped three large pizzas onto the coffee table, most of which were for Peter (for Harley now). The two boys picked up paper plates and served themselves pizza.

“Harley, or uh Peter-no, Harley, pass me a plate,” Tony requested from the recliner. Peter and Harley glanced at each other having the same realization: Tony, who already mixed them up on the regular, was about to be way more confused than he usually was. They grinned as Harley picked up a paper plate and reached to hand it to Tony.

“Stop that, this is only because of the body swap thing.”

“Whatever you say, old man. I think you may have lost your marbles.” Harley jabbed, bringing his pizza slice up to eat.

“God, that sounds so weird coming from Peter’s mouth. Eat your damn pizza.”

When they finished the pizzas, and Tony had retreated to the lab, Harley informed Peter that he’d be teaching him to act “as cool as me.”

“Act cooler, swing your arms more! You stand too straight.” Harley called as he watched Peter walk and forth in front of the coffee table.

“What do you mean ‘act cooler’? You never act cool.” Peter laughed at the boy’s fake offense.

“C’mere, you jerk.” Harley laughed and jumped towards Peter, chasing him around the couch. Peter let out a yelp when he tripped and fell over his unfamiliar legs. Harley fell on top of him laughing and pressing a chaste kiss to his temple.

Once they had finally caught their breath from laughing so hard, Harley went to stand and pulled Peter along with him, hand stuck to Peter’s upper arm. They locked eyes for a moment before busting out into laughter again, falling on the floor when Harley unstuck inadvertently.

-

“Harley, _please_ , that doesn’t even follow the dress code.” Peter whined as they got ready for school.

“I’ll change when you do my hair. You’re not taking me out looking like that again.” Harley gestured to his unruly hair that Peter neglected to style.

“I don’t even know how to do your hair.” Peter called as he threw a sweatshirt and jeans towards Harley, indicating for him to change.

“Fine, come here. Sit down.” Harley guided Peter to the edge of his bed before kneeling behind him with a blowdryer and can of hairspray in hand. Peter let Harley run his fingers through and style what was really his own hair with ease and instinct. He closed his eyes and melted into the feeling of Harley’s finger’s against his scalp (or Peter’s fingers against Harley’s more accurately).

“You should play with my hair more often,” Peter sighed as Harley set down the spray, letting Peter go with a pat to the back.

“It’s _my_ hair, Peter, and I’ll play with your hair if you wear these outfits for me.”

Peter huffed and swung Harley’s bag over his shoulder, “Maybe,” he noted before leaving for school, the other boy following shortly behind.

“Hey, Parker, I see you decided to ditch the hooker outfit for your usual rags. Good choice,” Flash mocked as he shoved into who he didn’t know was actually Harley. Peter quickly put a hand on Harley’s shoulder and shook his head narrowly. He didn’t need Flash to be even more pissed for when Peter was back in his body.

“What is it, Keener? Need to hold back your boyfriend? You’re pathetic, country boy.”

Peter saw red.

The two found themselves in the office with a very annoyed Flash holding an ice pack up to his bruised cheek, a visibly disappointed yet amused Tony, and a likely hungover Harrison Thompson. To be fair, it was always clear to Peter that Flash directed other frustrations towards his peers, but he always preferred it to stay directed towards himself, not others, and definitely not Harley. Tony wouldn’t have been surprised to get a call hearing that Harley punched someone, especially someone who was harassing Peter, but to know that it was actually the other way around was unexpected. Not particularly shocking, but certainly unexpected.

“I’ll go ahead and take these two home.” Tony noted, standing up for Peter and Harley to follow. 

“I’ve got to say, I didn’t expect that from you, Pete-or uh Harley, no, Peter. Who are you?” Tony smiled at the boy, patting him on the back. Harley and Peter laughed at the man’s momentary confusion as they left the school. “Come on, I’m getting you both ice cream.”  
“Tony it’s nine in the morning.” Peter laughed. He knew that it could have easily been dinnertime for Tony based on his skewed sleep schedule.

Harley and Peter made their way to the living room couch as Tony retreated to the lab, supposedly on the verge of a breakthrough.

“You never hold me like this,” Harley mumbled into Peter’s chest as he wrapped his arms around his waist.

“You always hold me first.” Peter defended himself as he buried his face into Harley’s hair. He ran a gentle hand up and down Harley’s back knowing first hand how good it felt.

“I can’t not hold you,” Harley laughed, “Look,” he leaned back to look Peter in the eye, “You’re just too cute, too holdable.” Peter only laughed and tugged Harley closer again, making a mental note to hold him whenever he could in the future. As much as he loved to see his Handsome Cowboy, just being near him was enough, even if he had Peter’s body (which was strange, to say the least).

“You have no idea how many granola bars I had to eat in the middle of the night,” Harley murmured, seemingly still tired from his night of snacking.

“You know I do.” Peter rubbed the nape of his neck fondly, “You’re just lucky you don’t have to go web slinging in that body.” He felt Harley grin against Peter’s chest.

“You’re still gonna teach me, right?”

“Absolutely not, I said no,” Peter pinched Harley’s side in warning, “Don’t think I didn’t see you get stuck to the car door. And in the elevator.” Harley snorted.

“I got unstuck by myself, though. I think I’m ready.” Harley slurred into Peter’s chest and began to drift off. Without his enhanced senses, Peter resigned to guessing when Harley was actually asleep. He was dozing before he could decide.

-

“You know what’s weird about being you?” Peter asked, tossing a crumpled piece of paper towards Harley from where he sat on the floor.

“What?” Harley responded, catching the paper with ease. (Lord knows he couldn’t catch anything before the swap).

“I never really wanted to be a cowboy before, but now that I am, it’s not bad.” Harley unfurled the paper as Peter spoke.

“Why would you give this to me?” Harley held up the crinkled paper with a crudely drawn picture of Harley in a cowboy hat on it, “I’m literally not a cowboy. I keep telling you this.” He balled the paper back up.

“Of course you’re not a cowboy. _I’m_ the cowboy now.” Peter laughed as Harley threw the paper back in his direction. Peter stuck his hand out to catch the paper which flew past his hand and bopped him on the nose. “Ow,” he whispered with a laugh as he brought a hand up to rub where he was hit.

“That’s what you get for making fun of me all this time; you know I can’t catch with long arms. Also for calling me a cowboy.”

“I already told you,” Peter uncurled the paper again, picking up his marker, “You’re not a cowboy anymore, I am!” He lifted up the drawing again to reveal three newly drawn hearts around the drawing.

“Boss is requesting both of you in the lab. They are ready to reverse your body swap.” Friday’s voice rang through Harley’s bedroom.

“Thank you, Friday.” “Thanks, Fri.” Both boys thanked her as they stood, Peter taking just a moment longer than usual in the lanky body.

“Race you to the lab,” Harley called, taking off towards the stairs.

“Harley, that’s not _fair_.” Peter whined as he followed Harley into the staircase, considerably slower, and tripping almost immediately.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments give me the drive to write more!! I have a long fic planned that should start coming out soon (?)  
> Thanks again to the [Parkner discord server](https://discord.gg/cxwUkVW) for the inspiration  
> And Happy Birthday to Maia ily


End file.
